Project description:A previous case study described an adrenal incidentaloma initially misdiagnosed as adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) and treated with mitotane. The final diagnosis was metastatic melanoma of unknown primary origin. However, the patient developed rapid disease progression after mitotane withdrawal, suggesting a protective role for mitotane in a non-adrenal derived tumour. The aim of the present study was to determine the biological response of primary melanoma cells obtained from that patient and in two other established melanoma and ACC cell lines treated with mitotane. Although mitotane inhibited proliferation of both ACC and melanoma cells, its role in melanoma treatment appears to be limited. Flow cytometry analysis and transcriptomic studies indicated that the ACC cell line was highly responsive to mitotane treatment, although the primary melanoma cell line showed a moderate response in vitro. Mitotane modified activity in several key biological processes, including “mitotic nuclear division”, “DNA repair”, “angiogenesis”, and “negative regulation of ERK1 and ERK2 cascade”.
Project description:Adrenal cortical carcinoma (ACC) is an extremely rare disease with a variable prognosis. Current prognostic markers have limitations in identifying patients with a poor prognosis. Herein, we aimed to investigate the prognostic protein biomarkers of ACC using mass-spectrometry-based proteomics. We performed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of 45 adrenal tumors.
Project description:We report the genome wide RNA sequencing for high-throughput profiling of FOXQ1 target genes in melanoma and carcinoma cells. We generated melanoma (SK-Mel-147) and ovarian carcinoma cells (SCOV3) ectopically expressing FOXQ1. We find that FOXQ1 differentially regulates the expression of several genes in melanoma cells as compared to carcinoma cells. Specifically, FOXQ1 induces the expression of several genes in ovarian carcinoma cells SCOV3 and suppresses the expression of the same genes in melanom cells. We show that this differentialy regulation of the same target gene depends upon the nuclear levels of beta-catenin. High levels of active nuclear beta-catenin promote FOXQ1 mediated transcriptional activation of genes whereas low levels contribute to TLE/Groucho- mediated repression. This study provides a framework for understanding the lineage specific pattern of transcriptional regulation by FOXQ1 and its contextual determinants.
Project description:Background: Adrenal myelolipoma (AML) is a relatively common and invariably benign tumor composed of adipose tissue and hematopoietic elements. Due to the variable proportion of fat and hematopoietic elements, it is sometimes challenging to differentiate AML from adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). MicroRNAs have been identified as promising biomarkers in many tumors, including adrenocortical neoplasms, but the microRNA expression of adrenal myelolipoma has not been investigated, yet. Aims: To perform a large scale microRNA expression profiling in adrenal myelolipoma, benign and malignant adrenocortical tumors to identify potential microRNA biomarkers. Methods: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) on 30 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded archived tissue samples (discovery cohort: 10 adrenocortical adenoma (ACA), 10 ACC and 10 myelolipoma) was performed by Illumina MiSeq. Significantly differentially expressed microRNAs were validated by real-time RT-qPCR in an independent validation cohort comprised of 10 ACA, 10 myelolipoma and 9 ACC samples. Results: We have found relative overexpression of miR- 451a, miR-486-5p, miR-363-3p and miR-150-5p in myelolipoma compared to the other two tumor groups by NGS. For ACC, we have found up-regulation of miR-184, miR-483-5p, miR-431-5p and miR-183-5p compared to myelolipoma and ACA. Validation by RT-qPCR, confirmed significant overexpression of miR-451a, miR-486-5p and miR-150-5p in myelolipomas relative to ACA and ACC, whereas significant overexpression of miR-184 and miR-183-5p was confirmed in ACC relative to the other 2 groups. The overexpression of miR-483-5p has not turned out to be significant in ACC relative to myelolipomas in the validation cohort. Conclusions: Overexpressed miR-451a, miR-486-5p and miR-150-5p might be potential tissue markers of adrenal myelolipoma. The lack of significance in the expression of miR-483-5p between ACC and myelolipoma is remarkable, as miR-483-5p has been considered to be the best marker of adrenal malignancy to date.
Project description:Cytokine release syndrome (CRS) is a major cause of death in lethal T cell activation and presents a significant barrier for CAR-T immunotherapy or allogenic hematopoietic cell transplantation. We reported here that adrenal stress response, defined by a 5-10-fold increase in induced glucocorticoid (iGC) production, is an essential host response against lethal T cell activation. We identified scavenger receptor BI (SR-BI), a HDL receptor, as a key regulator for iGC production. Using SR-BI null mice as an adrenal stress response deficiency model, we demonstrated that adrenal stress response protects anti-CD3 induced death through keeping CRS under control and relative adrenal insufficiency (RAI) – lacking adrenal stress response, is a risk factor.
Project description:Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is an aggressive malignancy with high rates of recurrence following surgical resection. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in cancer development. Pathogenesis of adrenal tumours has been characterised by mRNA, microRNA and methylation expression signatures but it is unknown if this extends to lncRNAs. We sought to describe lncRNA expression signatures in adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), adrenal cortical adenoma (ACA) and normal adrenal cortex (NAC). RNA was extracted from freshly frozen tissue with confirmation of diagnosis by histopathology. Focused lncRNA and mRNA transcriptome analysis was performed using the ArrayStar Human LncRNA V3.0 microarray. Differentially expressed lncRNAs were validated using qRT-PCR.
Project description:The aim was to investigate LPS-induced chages in cell metabolic pathways in the adrenal cortex. Bulk RNASeq was performed in microdissected adrenal cortices, followed by gene expression profiling analysis.
Project description:Transcription factor GATA6 is expressed in the fetal and adult adrenal cortex and has been implicated in steroidogenesis. To characterize the role of GATA6 in adrenocortical development and function, we generated mice in which Gata6 was conditionally deleted using Cre-LoxP recombination with Sf1-cre. The adrenal glands of adult Gata6 conditional knockout (cKO) mice were small and had a thin cortex with thickened capsule. Cytomegalic changes were evident in the adrenal glands of fetal and adult cKO mice, and chromaffin cells were ectopically located at the periphery of the glands. The secretion of corticosterone in response to exogenous ACTH was blunted in cKO mice. Cells expressing gonadal-like markers, including Gata4, Amhr2, and Tcf21, accumulated in the adrenal capsule and subcapsule of cKO mice, suggesting aberrant adrenocortical progenitor/stem cell differentiation. Gonadectomy triggered the overexpression of sex steroidogenic differentiation markers, such as Lhcgr and Cyp17, in the adrenal glands of male and female cKO mice. Nulliparous female and orchiectomized male cKO mice lacked an adrenal X-zone. Microarray hybridization identified Pik3c2g as a novel X-zone marker that is downregulated in the adrenal glands of nulliparous female Gata6 cKO mice. Our findings offer genetic proof of the longstanding hypothesis that GATA6 regulates the differentiation of steroidogenic progenitors into corticoid-producing cells. 3 replicates from both conditional knockout of Gata6 in the adrenal gland and control adrenal glands from non-knockout mice were compared